| dc.description.abstract | This paper documents that the Rise of (Western) Europe between 1500 and 1850 is
largely accounted for by the growth of European nations with access to the Atlantic,
and especially by those nations that engaged in colonialism and long distance oceanic
trade. Moreover, Atlantic ports grew much faster than other West European cities,
including Mediterranean ports.
Atlantic trade and colonialism affected Europe both directly, and indirectly by inducing
institutional changes. In particular, the growth of New World, African, and Asian trade
after 1500 strengthened new segments of the commercial bourgeoisie, and enabled
these groups to demand, obtain, and sustain changes in institutions to protect their
property rights.
Furthermore, the most significant institutional changes and consequently the most
substantial economic gains occurred in nations where existing institutions placed some
checks on the monarchy and particularly limited its control of overseas trading
activities, thus enabling new merchants in these countries to benefit from Atlantic trade.
Therefore, the Rise of Europe was largely the result of capitalist development driven
by the interaction of late medieval institutions and the economic opportunities offered
by "Atlantic trade | en |
